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Free Scaling Checklist: Is Your Company Ready to Grow?

By Aurelius X

Introduction

Lots of startups see a bump in revenue and assume “scale” is next. But scaling without the right checklist is how promising companies turn fast growth into an existential crisis. This free, practical checklist tells you exactly what to audit — and gives you a simple score to decide whether to accelerate, pause, or fix the foundations first.

The Problem

Scaling amplifies everything: good processes, bad habits, technical debt, and cultural gaps. If you lack predictable unit economics, reliable operations, or leadership depth, growth will burn cash, frustrate customers, and break the team.

Who is this for?

This checklist is for founders, CEOs, product leaders, and operators who want a quick, evidence-based readiness score before they commit capital and people to an aggressive growth plan.

The Kelstron Pre-Scale Checklist

Score each item: ✅ = 2, ➖(Partial) = 1, ❌ = 0. Total possible points: 40. See the scoring guide below.

  1. Product & Market
    • Product-market fit demonstrable (low churn, high NPS).
    • Repeatable sales motion: documented ICP, playbook, and predictable conversion rates.
  2. Unit Economics & Financial Health
    • LTV : CAC ≥ 3 : 1 (or a clearly improving trajectory toward that).
    • CAC payback period ≤ 12 months (SaaS) / appropriate industry benchmark.
    • Gross margin sufficient to scale (industry specific; you can’t scale 10% gross margin hardware without a plan).
  3. Cash & Funding
    • Minimum 12 months runway at planned growth spend OR committed funding to cover scale phase.
    • Clear funding plan aligned with milestones (milestone-based tranches or committed credit line).
  4. Operations & Supply Chain
    • Suppliers contracted with clear lead-times & contingency plans (dual-sourcing for critical parts).
    • Fulfillment & delivery SLAs proven at 2–3x current volume (pilot stress test passed).
  5. Technology & Product Delivery
    • Core systems (billing, CRM, ERP, analytics) can handle 5–10x current load or are budgeted for scaling.
    • Technical debt backlog prioritized and triaged for production-critical fixes.
  6. Team & Leadership
    • Leadership team has clear role coverage (ops, product, finance, sales) and at least 1–2 successors for key roles.
    • Hiring plan + onboarding workflows ready for scale (scorecards and ramp targets).
  7. KPIs & Measurement
    • Weekly dashboard with top 5 growth KPIs (e.g., ARR/MRR, churn, LTV/CAC, CAC payback, gross margin).
    • Data pipelines & owners for each KPI; source-of-truth agreed.
  8. Customer Success & Experience
    • Customer success model scales (CS ratios, SLAs, documented playbooks for churn prevention).
    • Support SLA & escalation processes tested under higher volume.
  9. Compliance, Legal & Risk
    • Contracts, warranties, and regulatory coverage in target markets (IP protected; product certifications if applicable).
    • Insurance (D&O, product liability / fleet coverage) appropriate for scale and region.
  10. Go-to-Market & Growth Readiness
    • Channel & distribution readiness (partners, dealer networks, or go-to-market ops).
    • Marketing engine repeatable & scalable (lead gen channels tested at scale with acceptable CAC).

Scoring Guide (what your total means)

  • 34–40 (Strong — Ready to Scale): Go ahead with controlled experiments to scale rapidly. Build your growth plan and deploy capital to proven channels.
  • 24–33 (Borderline — Fix & Stage): You have some foundations but must shore up 2–3 key areas (probably ops, cash, or product). Stage growth and prioritize fixes before a full-scale push.
  • 0–23 (Not Ready — Rebuild Foundations): Stop. Focus on product-market fit, unit economics, and predictable delivery. Scaling now will likely burn cash and customer goodwill.

How to Use This Checklist (step-by-step)

  1. Score honestly. Use real data, not optimism.
  2. Identify the weakest 3 items. These are your single biggest risks.
  3. Create 30/60/90 day fixes for each weak point (owner, deliverable, impact).
  4. Run a small-scale stress test (2–3x volume in a controlled market) to validate fixes.
  5. Re-score after 90 days. If score moves to Strong, begin phased scale.

Quick Playbook: Example Fixes for Common Failure Modes

  • Low LTV:CAC → Improve onboarding + pricing; shift to expansion-based growth (upsells).
  • Supply chain fragility → Secure second supplier, increase buffer for critical parts, negotiate lead-time SLAs.
  • Insufficient runway → Stage hiring, convert some hires to contractors, negotiate milestone-driven capital.
  • Tech can’t scale → Offload non-core features, invest in autoscaling infra and a prioritized bug list.

Practical KPIs to Monitor Weekly (the must-watch five)

  • Revenue velocity (MRR/ARR growth rate)
  • LTV : CAC ratio
  • Gross margin % (or gross margin per unit)
  • Churn / Net Revenue Retention (NRR)
  • Cash runway (months) at planned burn

Conclusion

Kelstron builds tailored pre-scale programs: we run readiness audits, prioritize the weakest points, and embed a 90-day sprint team to validate fixes. If you want a Kelstron-grade scorecard and a tailored 30/60/90 plan, we can run the audit and deliver the plan in two weeks.

Disclaimer: This checklist is for general informational purposes and is not tailored legal, financial, or accounting advice. Industry benchmarks and target thresholds vary—validate with your advisors before making major funding or strategic decisions.